what he could tell at a distance, identical complexions and facial bone structure. And similar ferocious scowls.
By the end of the last contest he was glad to order up his winnings – Fred had been a competent tipster – and leave with Matt. The other staffers followed at a respectful distance. They joined the crowds on the walkolators towards the tube.
‘Thanks, Matt.’ He patted the young man’s shoulder. ‘A remarkable day. I’m thirty euros better off and I’ve learned a thing or two. Come up with a few conundrums as well. What is it with these people? They seem extraordinarily laid back, don’t they?’
‘Oh, they’re content enough.’ Matt frowned and sighed. ‘I’ve been here a year, sir, and that’s what you’ll find everywhere. Makes you wonder.’
‘Maybe there’s something in the water.’ Strether half laughed, then regretted his levity and continued more soberly. ‘Maybe folk have got so complacent they don’t react to the strangest events. That man Fred didn’t blink an eye when someone was arrested under his nose, quite violently too, and I didn’t hear anybody reading out the guy’s civil rights. They weren’t even proper police.’
Matt walked quietly beside him. ‘We can’t assume anything. We ask, but we get nowhere. Unless it’s an American citizen we’re fobbed off.’
‘But you have your suspicions?’ Strether realised that he had spent the whole day taking in a host of impressions but had not been quite as dazzled as he had expected.Something was wrong, but he could not put his finger on it.
‘Well, sir. It makes me twitch. These Europeans are so well fed, well housed, well paid and kept so well entertained that they’ve become indifferent. They simply give the benefit of the doubt to the authorities. They never complain – have nothing much to complain about. They question nothing.’
‘Bread and circuses? Keep the populace quiet?’
‘Sir. But if something was dodgy, who’d notice?’ Matt swept an arm at the milling hordes, so orderly, so pleasantly disciplined. Most faces had a bland, almost vacant tinge, as if tired, though many were still discussing the esoteric points of play. ‘And, if they noticed, would they care – or do anything about it? Complacency, inertia. This is modern Europe.’
‘In which, if Fred is right, we are all expected to behave. No, dammit, to conform . But to what?’
Chapter Five
Outside the glazed window of the Maglev, the countryside flew past. Strether marvelled at the swift, noiseless motion; in the old days train travel had meant vibration, clatter, the smell of diesel and indecipherable announcements over a bad Tannoy. The French TGV had been the forerunner, electric-powered at 500 k.p.h. on arrow-straight tracks across Europe. But in heavily populated regions like southern England the Maglev soared silently on an elevated rail, elegant and triumphant.
As an ambassador he had permission to travel by car, but frequent use was bad manners in the Union. Petrol had been far more costly here than in the USA, but it was not a question of expense. Crowded Europe simply took its Rio responsibilities, as the international environmental policy had become known, far more seriously than Americans ever had. He could have used the chauffeured embassy electric motor; but ‘when in Rome’, Matt had said, tactfully, when he had suggested taking it to the mall. And, to be fair, with public transport as splendid as the Maglev to Porton Down, he was happy to comply.
Marius had been as good as his word. Indeed, the Prince had volunteered to accompany Strether round the laboratories and would meet him there. Strether had proposed travelling together, but the quick demurral had told him that the Prince would probably arrive well ahead and brief those who would be showing him around. Brief them – or warn them, perhaps. His predecessor had shown no such curiosity, Strether knew. Again, it was a question of manners; however bold the
By the end of the last contest he was glad to order up his winnings – Fred had been a competent tipster – and leave with Matt. The other staffers followed at a respectful distance. They joined the crowds on the walkolators towards the tube.
‘Thanks, Matt.’ He patted the young man’s shoulder. ‘A remarkable day. I’m thirty euros better off and I’ve learned a thing or two. Come up with a few conundrums as well. What is it with these people? They seem extraordinarily laid back, don’t they?’
‘Oh, they’re content enough.’ Matt frowned and sighed. ‘I’ve been here a year, sir, and that’s what you’ll find everywhere. Makes you wonder.’
‘Maybe there’s something in the water.’ Strether half laughed, then regretted his levity and continued more soberly. ‘Maybe folk have got so complacent they don’t react to the strangest events. That man Fred didn’t blink an eye when someone was arrested under his nose, quite violently too, and I didn’t hear anybody reading out the guy’s civil rights. They weren’t even proper police.’
Matt walked quietly beside him. ‘We can’t assume anything. We ask, but we get nowhere. Unless it’s an American citizen we’re fobbed off.’
‘But you have your suspicions?’ Strether realised that he had spent the whole day taking in a host of impressions but had not been quite as dazzled as he had expected.Something was wrong, but he could not put his finger on it.
‘Well, sir. It makes me twitch. These Europeans are so well fed, well housed, well paid and kept so well entertained that they’ve become indifferent. They simply give the benefit of the doubt to the authorities. They never complain – have nothing much to complain about. They question nothing.’
‘Bread and circuses? Keep the populace quiet?’
‘Sir. But if something was dodgy, who’d notice?’ Matt swept an arm at the milling hordes, so orderly, so pleasantly disciplined. Most faces had a bland, almost vacant tinge, as if tired, though many were still discussing the esoteric points of play. ‘And, if they noticed, would they care – or do anything about it? Complacency, inertia. This is modern Europe.’
‘In which, if Fred is right, we are all expected to behave. No, dammit, to conform . But to what?’
Chapter Five
Outside the glazed window of the Maglev, the countryside flew past. Strether marvelled at the swift, noiseless motion; in the old days train travel had meant vibration, clatter, the smell of diesel and indecipherable announcements over a bad Tannoy. The French TGV had been the forerunner, electric-powered at 500 k.p.h. on arrow-straight tracks across Europe. But in heavily populated regions like southern England the Maglev soared silently on an elevated rail, elegant and triumphant.
As an ambassador he had permission to travel by car, but frequent use was bad manners in the Union. Petrol had been far more costly here than in the USA, but it was not a question of expense. Crowded Europe simply took its Rio responsibilities, as the international environmental policy had become known, far more seriously than Americans ever had. He could have used the chauffeured embassy electric motor; but ‘when in Rome’, Matt had said, tactfully, when he had suggested taking it to the mall. And, to be fair, with public transport as splendid as the Maglev to Porton Down, he was happy to comply.
Marius had been as good as his word. Indeed, the Prince had volunteered to accompany Strether round the laboratories and would meet him there. Strether had proposed travelling together, but the quick demurral had told him that the Prince would probably arrive well ahead and brief those who would be showing him around. Brief them – or warn them, perhaps. His predecessor had shown no such curiosity, Strether knew. Again, it was a question of manners; however bold the
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